Category: Super Comics

Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #4

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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Sonic the Hedgehog (the comic book series) and all the images you see in this recap are owned by IDW and SEGA of America

We’re back with another issue of Sonic Empire, though hopefully THIS comic book shakeup won’t try throwing Nazis in to seem edgy.  It’s also THE LAST issue they’ll be putting out on a weekly basis as every issue going forward will now be released monthly, so this is the last chance they have to hook new readers in (and old readers of the Archie books) before things go back to a more realistic schedule.  Not only that, but this is also the issue where we get introduced to an original character for this series, so on top of keeping Sonic the Hedgehog relevant in the world of comics, they also have to sell us on something new for the Sonic franchise, and we all know how often THAT works out (*cough* Silver *cough* Sonic Boom *cough*).  Can IDW tie everything together as they wrap up this month long sales pitch to fans new and old?  Let’s find out!!

The issue begins as these invariable do with the always fast yet perpetually late Sonic the Hedgehog happening upon yet another town mid-besiegement by an army of Ruthless Robotic Rabble Rousers; though this one seems to be the worst yet by a large margin as there’s a freaking imperial star destroyer (or at least a dropship that big) raining a deluge of ticked off robots onto the unsuspecting and barley coordinated masses!  Things seem pretty grim as Sonic EVENTUALLY barrels his way through the city gates, but don’t lose hope just yet!  There appears to be at least ONE fighter within their midst!

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A NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHES!!

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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #3

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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Sonic the Hedgehog (the comic book series) and all the images you see in this recap are owned by IDW and SEGA of America

We’re back with another issue of The Blue 52 (I can probably come up with ONE more comic book continuity shakeup puns before I’m totally tapped out) which sees our old friend Sonic the Hedgehog getting used to his new spot in the IDW family after leaving Archie Comics under less than amicable terms!  Did you know they STILL haven’t put the Archie Comics back on ComiXology yet?  You’d think SOMEONE would’ve gotten on that already.  Still, the relaunch of this character in the world of comics has been a rather smooth one so far with two decent issues under their belt, but can they keep the momentum going through issues three and four as well?  Well we’ll have to wait a week to find out about four but as far issue three goes, let’s find out!!

The issue begins once again with Sonic happening upon a town besieged by jerk-bots, though this time around he may have been a little late to the party (GASP!) because Knuckles is already elbow deep in the cybernetic guts of one of the bigger metal monstrosities.  As it turns out, he’s basically pulling a Sonic of his own; what with the robot smashing in nearby villages rather than taking part in a more coordinated effort with the rest of the resistance.  Seems like an odd decision to make THE LEADER into a flakey and self-righteous free spirit, but it’s doubly weird that neither one of those identities feels like a good fit for Knuckles.  Making him either a leader of any sort or a wander without roots seems to go against the usual characterization of the guy.  He’s a total loner and overly serious compared to everyone else, AND he’s charged with protecting the Master Emerald which means he’s stuck in one place with a sacred duty.  Now sure that hasn’t ALWAYS been his characterization (I’m looking at you AGAIN, Sonic Boom!) but it still seems like an odd choice to make HIM in charge instead of Amy who actually seems to WANT the position.  It’s also possible that I’m jumping on this aspect of the story too early and it will be addressed later on, so for now we’ll just go with it.

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“So… you DID get someone to guard the Master Emerald while you were away, right?”     “… OH CRAP!!”

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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #2

~ Matt Vetrano ~ 3 Comments

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Sonic the Hedgehog (the comic book series) and all the images you see in this recap are owned by IDW and SEGA of America

We’re back with another issue of Sonic Rebirth!  The new series that is TOTALLY different from what we had before (but maybe not depending on what the writers want to keep) and seemingly WASN’T caused by a speedster going back in time (though I wouldn’t discount that as a possible story line at some point).  ANYWAY, after the inaugural issue turned out not to be quite what I was looking for, it falls upon this second issue to pick up the slack and get the ball rolling on what this series will truly be about and whether or not we’ll want to continue on this journey with the snarky hedgehog.  Does it succeed where the last one stumbled?  Let’s find out!!

The issue begins much like the first one with Sonic tearing his way through hordes of evil robots; snidely remarking and stylishly posing as he does so.  This first scene is actually pretty impressive in terms of scope as Sonic is fighting a giant mechanical spider , but I had a bit of trouble following the action beats as it took me a good three tries to fully grasp what’s going on.  Apparently he climbs up the spider (fair enough), spin dashes off of its head which causes an explosion for some reason (um…) and follows that up with an absurdly high jump (okay…) so he can come back down to smash himself through the machine’s core.  So not only can he generate his own downward velocity (I doubt gravity alone would accelerate him fast enough to pierce steel), but he is ALSO completely invincible while in ball form as the sudden impact of hedgehog to spider didn’t immediately liquefy his internal organs.  Well I guess that’s ONE way to make a cartoon animal look like a total badass, but organ liquidation though is not ENTIRELY off the table however because while Sonic is too busy basking in the glow of his adoring fans for destroying the robot menace, it turns out the machine had one more trick up its sleeve and… I think it’s gonna shoot a laser?  I don’t know, the artwork isn’t really clear here as to what’s ABOUT to happen (maybe it’s getting up?) but before anyone can worry about it, Amy comes in like a bat out of hell and bashes its robo brains in with her over-sized hammer!

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I’d be less sarcastic around her if I were you, Sonic.  Did you SEE what she can do with that thing!?

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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) – #1

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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Sonic the Hedgehog (the comic book series) and all the images you see in this recap are owned by IDW and SEGA of America

Sonic The Hedgehog from Archie Comics was the longest running comic book series based on a video game, and while I’ve only looked at a small fraction of the issues they released, I do consider myself to be a fan of the work they did in that book; especially in bring some real depth and naunce to the Freedom Fighters as well as how fearless they were to expand the world and take us to new and interesting places. Sure it didn’t always WORK *cough* Nerbs *cough*), but the overwhelming scope of what they managed to accomplish cannot be ignored. It’s with a certain amount of reservation and glee that I waited for IDW to start their own Sonic the Hedgehog series once they got the rights from SEGA, and while I’m still VERY unhappy about how the Archie Comics have been treated since the licenese switch, Iam more than happy to give this new one a shot and see what directions they’ll go in now that we’re rebuilding it all from sctach. Do this first issue manage to succeed in continuing the legacy of such a momenumental work? Let’s find out!!

The first thing worth noting about this book is exactly who’s behind it. While the front may say IDW, half of the staff here migrated directly from the Archie Comic series, including Ian Flynn as the head writer, Tracy Yardley on pencils, and Jim Amash and Matt Herms on inks and colors respectively (I’m gonna prented I know exactly what those jobs mean). Hopefully this will be a good sign of things to come, though I doubt that much of the material they were working from back at Archie can even be MENTIONED in the new book. Then again, the issue begins in medias res (I PROBABLY know what that means) as we picking up this story after some sort of climactic battle between Dr. Eggman and Sonic the Hedgehog where the not so good doctor disappeared afterwards and left his robot army to wander aimlessly around the countryside. The bad news is that despite them acting without much sense of structure or coheision, a bunch of pissed off robots with heavy weapony are still nothing to sneeze at as the citizens of one unnamed village are about to find out. The good news is though that their unorganized assaults are PERFECT opportunities for Sonic to show off his skills and fuel his massive ego by racking up some easy victories!

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TOO SOON, pink cat lady! The bodies of the critters who Sonic DIDN’T save are still literring the city streets!

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Super Comics: Sonic In Your Face!

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I guess with any comic book series, things can’t stay simple for long; not just in terms of plot and character depth which I am absolutely for, but in terms of spin-offs, specials, and the intermixing of continuity between them which I’m more or less totally against.  I’ve never gotten into super hero comic books for this reason as the amount of effort to understand any ONE book in its entirety is predicated on an absurd amount of disposable income so that all the issues of every connected series can be purchased.  Well I guess I have no choice with this series as we’re gonna be talking its very first Special today and it’s only going to get more unwieldy from here.  Strap in folks!  Things are gonna get bumpy!

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The special starts off with a continuation of the story line from issue 18; namely that Sally’s lifelong mentor who we’ve never heard of has just died and it turns out that she has left everything to her, including this spiffy vest!

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“SCORE!!”

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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog 16-18

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We’re back with even MORE Sonic the Hedgehog to talk about because… well I’m on a Sonic the Hedgehog kick again and it’s gonna take a bit more time to burn itself out!  We’ll be looking at three issues today because this stretch of issues includes some TRULY fascinating changes for the series and is a turning point in a lot of ways.  I’m always fascinated by stuff like this where you can pinpoint an EXACT moment where things are different from what they were before, and while I’m not equipped with the knowledge as to WHY these changes happened in the series, it’s going to be a lot of fun to point them out!

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Issue 16 (November 1994)

So the first thing we need to acknowledge is the change in Sally’s design.  Based on accounts from Michael Gallagher (the first writer for the comic book including the four initial test issues that I have yet to cover in this recap series) we know that the SatAM series was being developed at the same time as the comic which is why the basic outline of the story is the same, but it seems that some early concepts made it into the comic book before they were finalized for the series.  We know this happened already when Boomer was renamed to his cartoon name Rotor in issue 9, and the very first episode of the SatAM series had a design for Sally that is SOMEWHAT close to her appearance in the comics up to this point.  The big question I’m still left with is why her design wasn’t changed earlier as the comic was only on its second official issue (not including the four test issues) when the SatAM series premiered.   It could have just been a scheduling conflict as I have no idea how far ahead the books were written and illustrated before release, or maybe no one was too concerned about it until much later when it became clear that Sonic was going to be A THING for the foreseeable future.  Interesting fact!  This is not the first know redesign of the character as one of the earliest known pieces of concept art for the SatAM show portrayed a blonde princess with a dress and crown, and the first issue of the test series had her blonde as well; though it was corrected by the second issue to the design we know now.

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REALLY hoping that this isn’t all leading to a Crisis on Infinite Earths scenario.

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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog 12-15

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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That’s right!  We’re doing another four issue recap!  Mostly because there’s little substance to any of the issues we’ll be covering today, but also because I’m kinda anxious to get the real meat of this series and for it to take itself a bit more seriously.  Not in the grim dark sort of way (we are SO far from running into Shadow and Tails Doll) but for them to cut back on the puns and for the stories to have the SEMBLANCE of an ongoing arc.  Issue sixteen isn’t quite there yet, but that’s certainly a turning point in a lot of ways so I want to get there as soon as possible damn it!  Anyway, let’s get started!!

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Issue 12 (July 1994)

So right off the bat we have one of the least interesting stories from the books so far; ALMOST as bad as when they tried to do A Christmas Carol.  You wouldn’t think it from the initial premise though!  Seems like a GREAT idea for a story, but its squandered on, what else?  Lame jokes and half-baked ideas!  Sonic does his usual Sonic thing of making Doctor Robotnik’s life a living hell, but this latest ass kicking seems to have jogged something in the robo bastard as he comes up with an ingenious plan!  He’ll send Sonic back in time!  OF COURSE!  IT’S SO OBVIOUS, RIGHT!?

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“I am INTERFACED… again!?”

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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog 10-11

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Sonic the Hedgehog and all the images you see in this recap are owned by Archie Comics and Sega of America

We’re back with another look at the comic books that came out right around the time that Sonic Mania is so DESPERATELY trying to recreate! Now if the NEXT Sonic Mania introduced the Freedom Fighters, you might just hit MY nostalgic sweet spot as well, so get on that SEGA!!  Anyway, let’s go ahead and make this recent resurgence of Classic Sonic complete with a look at two more issues of the comic!!

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Issue 10 – (May 1994)

The issue begins with Sonic doing something that’s actually pretty awesome and is a very useful application of his speed; namely, detonating land mines placed by Robotnik’s robo-minions.

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“Batman’s got nothing on ME!”     “Sonic, I think that’s in pretty poor taste-”     “Death of Innocents? More like Death of Good Comics, am I right!?”

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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog 8-9

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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Sonic the Hedgehog and all the images you see in this recap are owned by Archie Comics and Sega of America

It’s time once again for everyone’s favorite hedgehog rear his spiky head once again and mildly amuse us with woodland critter shenanigans and an endless barrage of painful puns!  The last two issues did show some marked improvement as the series seems to be slowly heading in the right direction, but issue six also had the inexcusable Christmas Carol retelling so there’s definitely lots of room to improve.  Is there anything that terrible in these two issues?  I doubt it considering how deep of nadir that one story carved out for the series, but let’s find out!!

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Issue 8 (March 1994)

I guess after seven issues without getting cancelled, the writers of the Sonic comic felt they could start taking shots at the competition; hence why the first story in this issue is about cracking wise at the entire superhero comic book genre.  The justification for this is that one of Robotniks robots is caught with a huge stack of comic books (a crime punishable by death in the glorious robo-empire) but the leather clad beefcakes on the covers start to give Robotnik ideas on how to stop that pesky hedgehog!  TO THE ROBOT-A-TRON!!

 

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“This guy is such a box office draw that I plated him in solid freaking gold!”     “Meh.  I preferred the ‘66 model.”

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Super Comics: Sonic the Hedgehog 6-7

~ Matt Vetrano ~ 1 Comment

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Sonic the Hedgehog and all the images you see in this recap are owned by Archie Comics and Sega of America

We’re back with more comics about our favorite Mickey Mouse knockoff!!  We’re still very much in the early days before this comic really got a sense of what it was going to be other than a funny book companion to the video games, but even if it’s just a fluff series, it can still be enjoyable if they know how to tell good jokes and come up with interesting one shot ideas.  Do they manage to pull that off in these two issues?  Let’s find out!!

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Issue 6 (January 1994)

This issue, at least for the first half, a tie in to Sonic Spinball which I’m pretty sure is the only Sonic game that takes place in the Sat AM universe.  Well, I DO have my suspicions about that Sonic Generations 2 game or whatever it is coming out in 2017 (the tagline is Join the Resistance) but until that’s confirmed, this is the only Sat AM tie in game.  Unfortunately, that ALSO means that nothing of particular consequence is going to happen here as trying to tie any great continuity (that’s only barely getting established in the first place) to a pinball game is probably not the best idea long term.  But since we might as well get into it, the issue begins with the Freedom Fighters storming one of Robotnik’s factories to take him out once and for all (you KNOW they’re serious because Boomer brought a hammer), but the find it completely deserted and with a letter pinned to the front door informing them that Robotnik’s base of operations is now inside of volcano.  Probably not the WORST idea as far supervillain lairs go, but the addition of rails to get people easily through the facility may have been something he should have decided against.

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“Blasts!  Why did I bother installing those in the first place!?”     “We asked you about them SEVEN times before going into construction, but you were REALLY adamant about it.”     “Are you talking back to me, smart guy!?”

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